St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-26
IN THE BLACK HILLS.
The Paradoxical Position ofSeveral Promi-
nent Men Who are at Home in
Deadwood.
Activity in Mining Operations Reports
From the Speculative Market
Not Encouraging.
How Rapid City's Pro-Ltquor Alder
men Made Things Hum for
One Night.
Their Work Undone the Next Day.
Reference TO the Candidates
for Mayor.
Special Correspondence of the Globe.

Special Correspondence of the Globe.
DEADwoOD, Oak, March 24.-Up-
country folk of the Black Hills have not
yet ceased giggling and some of them fes-
tivating over the clever coup by which the
late territorial legislature was got to pass
over the governors veto the county division
bill. This bill is a general one in terms,
with the special object of dividing Lawrence
county. What is not SO we'll known is that
it is particularly a drive" at Deadwood,
the present county seat, as it is taken for
granted that any division of the present
county will involve the necessity for more
central location of its future capital than
Deadwood will be after the division. In fact
the division movement is a sort of burning
the barn to get rid of the rats, having had
its origin chiefly in the revolt of the coun-
try precincts against what is called 1.-THE
Deadwood court house ring" that has the
credit of so egregiously debauching the county
administration. Councilman Washabaugh,
who worked energetically for the bill, is
from DeadWoOd, but he owes his nominal
ton and election to his committal in ad-
vance to this measure inimical to the place
of his residence. This clearly illustrates
the extent to which the politics of this
county have divided ON the line-Deadwood
on one side and everybody else on the other.
A LURID LUNCH.
Aside from this antagonism, however,
there are motives geographical and specu-
lative back of the division scheme. The
proposed line of dissection will clearly seq
regate the agricultural from the mining dis
trictS and leave each county more homo
geneous in interests and products. The de-
mand for division comes from the agricul
tura! eastern half, and will greatly increase
their taxation, for separate. county adj
ministration, while cutting them off from
the large taxpayers of the mines. But
they will escape for the future payment of
the enormous county debt, and that is the
bug bear that is breaking up Lawrence
county and breaking her down. Several
places, too, have eyes on the location of the
two future county seats. Sturgis,
which claims that honor for the new
county, is the home of Representative Pat
ton, chief engineer of the division bill. 1t
is expected to bring town lot boom to
Sturgis; it has already brought boom to
Patton. On the 18th the former gave a
rubcund reception to the latter on his re-
turn from the wars at Bismarck. on which
occasion the burden of the toasts was.
GLORY to Patton and Death TO Deadwood!"
One of the singular features of this sectional
quarrel is the fact that the leaders of the
anti-Deadwood party live in that place and
are identified with its interests. They
have had the prescience and policy to recOg
niZe the popular drift and get control of
movement thus essentially antagonistic to
them. There are good politicians at Dead
wood.
ACTIVITY IN THE MINES.
Indications point towards year of I'M
usual activity in practical mining opera
tons. Sundays issues of the Deadwood
papers contain notices of assessments levied
by twenty-four mining companies. These,
added to those already collected this spring,
call for $40. 600 to be expended, not in pro-
ductive, but in ''dead work. development.
AS most of the stock is held in the Hills,
the facts show as we'll that the men of the
Hills put their money up literally on their
faith in its resources as that there is a good
deal of ''sand'' and some money left here.
notwithstanding bank failures and tight
money market.
DISCOURAGED BULLS.
AS encouraging reports cannot be made
of the speculative market. The trouble
with the new mining exchange that was
predicted in this correspondence already be-
gins to show itself. The bull movement,
which the exchange was expected and prob
ably organized to promote halts and stag
gers. The range of prices is lower than
when last wrote, though everybody pro-
fesses to have done the best boosting he
could. There are complaints in the papers
and on the streets that wildcat mines are
listed, ''wash sales" permitted to
depress prices, and a few days
since the community was shocked by
the published statement that "a
bear movement is under way that, if al
lowed to run its course. will be hurtful to
every interest" (SicD The prospects for
gambling under One-sided game such as
is here demanded are not tlattering: and we
may look to see the Deadwood exchange
either play out or incur the odium of en-
nifty to local interests. 1t is a noteworthy
fact in this connection that of all the stocks
in the exchange thus far, only two have
ever enjoyed tine Endorsement of divi-
dend; the rest are stocks of undeveloped or
only partially-deyeloped properties.
A RAPID REVOLUTION.
Rapid City's municipality seems to eb
drifting into arnica." She is enjoying
he distinction of coup d. etat, albeit it is
Ia little one for cent" Her common
council is composed OF four alderman.
equally divided OIL the liquor question.
Mayor Simmons who is president of the
council, is a trimmer Oh most questions,
but OH this one he has given casting vote
with the two aldermen who favor high Ii
cenSe. The liquor men were in this way
beaten last winter when they tried to get
the licenses reduced. Last week the mayor
and one of the temperance aldermen were
out of town and the two pro-liquor alder
man were in the majority. A hurried,
quiet meeting was called; Behrens (the re-
naming high license memDer) was forcedinto
the chair; Gantz made the motions, Sawyer
seconded them, and q. andS. voted; the fol.
lowing ''refOrmS" were rushed through:
The board of water. commissioners was
abolished the city attorney was expelled
from office; the chief of police was in
structed 10 release all prisoners in custody,
dozen or so, under various sentences; the
superintendent of the water works was in
structed to furnish water to consumers who
had been shut off for refusal to pay rates.
The water commissioners drink only their
own fluid and are Objectionable; the city at
tOrney is unpopular, professionally, with
the saloon element. These officials hold
their offices by virtue of laws unrepealed
by this action; and, such as it is, the whole
batch of resolutions was vetoed by the pro
ten. mayor the next day. Thus the effect
of this crazy escapade so far is only to pre-
cipitate the fight between the saloons and
the people, and to turn loose on the town
all the crooks and vags. The perform
ance
RAISED AN EXCITEMENT
which you may be sure the temp erance
people did not strain themselves to allay. A
large indignation meeting was held. marked
by heated discussions and resolutions de-
manding the instant resignation of Gantz
and Sawyer, which they declined on the
spot to do, and 'hurled back defiance" in